Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Trapezohedron]

Meow-r of a cat purr-son, but I like German Shepherds. Their wolf-like face and undying loyalty makes them cute.

[Telgin]

I've never been big on dogs, but I'd probably pick one of the larger breeds.  The lazier, the better.  Small yappy dogs drive me up the wall.

We once had a dog that was part collie of some sort of another.  She was a good dog.  I'd say that some sort of collie, or German shepherd would be the sort of thing I'd go for.  I'm not actually all that familiar with their behavior though, so I might change my mind if I actually interacted with them in any significant way.

Really though, some mixed breed would be just fine too.  Some combination of large dog breeds might give better results than a purebred, personality wise, as far as I know.

[Pnx]

We've had luck with shihtzu-poodle mixes. They look something like this:


Apart from the barking at/chasing joggers thing these two like to do, they're perfect. Very cuddly, very friendly, don't shed...

[PTTG??]

Quite possibly the best breed of dog: The Gilded Pyrenees.

Imagine a Great Pyrenees; one of the largest dog breeds, consisting mostly of hair. Bred to live in the mountains of central Europe and protect sheep by eating wolves whole. A beast that will take a bullet for its owner, then maul the burglar, then probably eat an elk and regenerate.

Imagine the Golden Retriever; a brilliant dog with one of the best, most outstanding personalities. They get along with every kind and type of person and can and will do your taxes for you.

The Gilded Pyrenees combines the best aspects of both. It is a gargantuan, gold-glowing hound large and tame enough to ride. Get one for each child, and they will form a psychic bond. It can see into men's souls and will accept those with good intentions with gentle grace, and will annihilate potential thieves with its heat vision.

Anyway, yeah, I like 'em.

[Fishybang]

I like mutts the most but im thanking of doing show so ill have to get a pruebred.

[FuzzyZergling]

I've always had a soft spot for Labrador Retrievers.

Spoiler: So adorable! (click to show/hide)

I also love Great Pyrenees.

Spoiler: This dog can destroy you. (click to show/hide)

[RedKing]

I have soft spot for Irish Wolfhounds, although I'd never own one. You have to love a dog that you could saddle and ride. They're actually very calm, sweet dogs too (although if they feel their owner is being threatened, they can easily knock your ass to the ground and rip your throat out if they so choose). Pity they only live 6-8 years.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My other favorite breed that I'd never own: the Neapolitan Mastiff. Cross a Shar-pei with a typical mastiff and you get a dog that is all wrinkles and muscle and guaranteed to leave a would-be burglar in dire need of a change of underwear.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sadly, the breed has gained popularity of late with exactly the wrong sort of people, gaining a rep as a "Pitbull+".

[kaenneth]

Corgi all the way.

[PTTG??]

That dog reminds me of the new reanimated skin beasts Toady added just recently.

[DeKaFu]

I've never owned a dog, but one of my life goals is someday owning an Irish Wolfhound. I love the way they look and the fact that they're absurdly big.

[varnish]

Irish Wolfhounds are pretty amazing. I'm normally a bit leery of large dogs, but the one's I've met were so quiet and gentle that I wasn't the least bit afraid.

That said, I've always wanted a basset hound. I would name him after Vespasian, or some other jowly historical figure.

[G-Flex]

I like mutts the most but im thanking of doing show so ill have to get a pruebred.

Show breeding is effectively the worst thing to ever happen to dogs. A century or two of breeding to arbitrary cosmetic standards, not to mention inbreeding, mean that most breeds that are up to show standards have some pretty significant health and functionality problems, all so people can parade around funny-looking animals that adhere to arbitrary specifications. The BBC did a pretty good special on this a few years ago.

The sad fact is that when you look at a purebred dog and think it looks a little deformed, that's because it is, and because we made them that way. People have selectively exaggerated their traits for long enough that their unique traits, far from being the kind of strange adaptations you see in lots of animals, are pretty much just deformities perpetuated and encouraged across generations that tend to result in significant problems. For example, bulldogs can hardly even give natural birth anymore (apparently 80% are through caesarian section), and some toy dog breeds with flatter skulls/faces tend to have eye and breathing problems for that reason. There's this little Pekingese owned by someone I know who can barely breathe out of his nose and whose eyes barely point in the right directions at all, because humans have decided that having a squashed skull looks cute or something.

Kennel club standards have certainly gotten a little better, but only very recently and due to PR backlash from things like the aforementioned BBC special. It just seems sad to me that humans are so concerned with having adorable animals that we'll willfully breed less healthy, less functional ones, prone to sometimes severe health problems and inbreeding, and exaggerated traits that don't make any sense or provide for the animal's well-being in any way, just to parade them around on a stage and get a ribbon for how much your individual animal fits an arbitrary cosmetic specification more than someone else's. If people want to talk about the dangers of genetically modifying organisms, dogs are a pretty good place to start, and we managed that using nothing but selective breeding.

[Cecilff2]

Of the dogs I've owned over the years

Akita

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ours was a mutt, but the akita part of her stood out a lot more than whatever the other part(s) were(She was a rescue).  Smartest dog I've ever seen.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Schipperke gets runner up. 

[Fishybang]

Show breeding is effectively the worst thing to ever happen to dogs. A century or two of breeding to arbitrary cosmetic standards, not to mention inbreeding, mean that most breeds that are up to show standards have some pretty significant health and functionality problems, all so people can parade around funny-looking animals that adhere to arbitrary specifications. The BBC did a pretty good special on this a few years ago.

The sad fact is that when you look at a purebred dog and think it looks a little deformed, that's because it is, and because we made them that way. People have selectively exaggerated their traits for long enough that their unique traits, far from being the kind of strange adaptations you see in lots of animals, are pretty much just deformities perpetuated and encouraged across generations that tend to result in significant problems. For example, bulldogs can hardly even give natural birth anymore (apparently 80% are through caesarian section), and some toy dog breeds with flatter skulls/faces tend to have eye and breathing problems for that reason. There's this little Pekingese owned by someone I know who can barely breathe out of his nose and whose eyes barely point in the right directions at all, because humans have decided that having a squashed skull looks cute or something.

Kennel club standards have certainly gotten a little better, but only very recently and due to PR backlash from things like the aforementioned BBC special. It just seems sad to me that humans are so concerned with having adorable animals that we'll willfully breed less healthy, less functional ones, prone to sometimes severe health problems and inbreeding, and exaggerated traits that don't make any sense or provide for the animal's well-being in any way, just to parade them around on a stage and get a ribbon for how much your individual animal fits an arbitrary cosmetic specification more than someone else's. If people want to talk about the dangers of genetically modifying organisms, dogs are a pretty good place to start, and we managed that using nothing but selective breeding.
[/quote]

I know i wish you could use mutts in shows but the dog shows are to show the best of a breed. So then after you find the breed you like you can breed it with another you like. But youve got to know how it should walk, run, look, and sound. Thats why i like dog shows.

[PTTG??]

Reminds me of something I heard from a friend of mine from Great Britain.

This guy walks into a pub looking beat. He sits down at the bar and asks for a pint- or maybe a liter or a quart or something, I don't know the British measurements- And the bartender hands him a mug and asks him what's bringing him down. The guy says, "I work in the [Palace? Castle? House of Commons? Something like that]. I take care of the corgis- royal dogs- for the royal family."

"Oh? How's the work then?"

"Well, what with the inbreeding, I have to deal with a lot of health problems. Not only that, their temperament is lousy and the intelligence is only marginal. And ever look at the snouts on those things? Just ugly as sin. And don't get me started on the dogs!"